INACCURATE INFORMATION BY HEARSAYS!

The press release by Herald on the 01 of March this year was proven inaccurate by Mrs Mtshake, superintendent of Dora Nginza Complex. The Herald stated that Dora Nginza’s maternity unit “has slightly higher norm than average”. The whole Nelson Mandela Bay’s health services was said to have “collapse”.

 Dora Nginza was partly mentioned for its “high mortality death rate”, as the Herald stated. The health service of Dora Nginza hospital makes Mrs Mtshake happy. “Since the year (2008) I arrived in this hospital, it works to my pleasures”, said the superintendent of Dora Nginza with a huge smile. Although there are attitudes between the staff, but they are working on it. Dora Nginza hospital is the heart of Nelson Mandela Bay and it caters for 32 towns, and those are all the Western region towns of the Eastern Cape. “Before people talk, they do not first look at how vast the number of patients Dora is catering for” said Mrs Gedult, Area Manager of the maternity ward. Gedult is also happy with the functioning of the hospital, although they are working on understaffed conditions. Due to the shortage of staff, they cannot deliver the expected quality of care.   

Dora Nginza Hospital is at its best condition, patients have proved that. Nandipha Mzaydume said she does not have any problem with the hospital, from its food to the attitude of the staff; she has been there for three weeks as a patient with gold stone illness. The maternity ward used to have four-bedded units, as from the third of January the beds were increased to ten per unit. All this happened without the addition of the new staff. “Our government does employ”, said Mrs Gedult, raising her eyebrows. Also the government does not provide enough funds, which in turn affects them in rendering the best for the patients. Last September, Dora Nginza Hospital went out of funds, and they got help from East London Complex.

There are few things that need to be improved at Dora Nginza hospital, casualty is one of them. Dora Nginza Hospital has a very small casualty. And the casualty is not divided into rooms, so there is “no proper privacy”, there goes Mrs Mtshake. Planners who were planning the casualty knew that Dora was going to be the centre complex, which was going to cater for more than thirty towns, just to name few: Port Elizabeth, Graafreinet, Port Alfred, Uitenhage, and others. The hospital says they could try their best in service but if there can only be co-operation between the patients and the primary health care (clinics). The staffs are complaining about the patients who do not come to the hospital at an early stage. The clinics are also underperforming; people who should have been attended by the clinics come to the hospitals.

Superintendent of the hospital said journalists must change their mind set, they must not look at what is bad only. Also the good side needs to be put eye.